Bead Jewelry Site, APlusBeads.com, Announces Its Grand Opening

APlusBeads.com announced the immediate opening of its online bead store. The store offers many different products for bead enthusiasts all over the world. From semi precious stone beads to magnetic beads, the store has something for all bead lovers.

The online Beads Store at APlusBeads.com is a welcoming site for those customers looking for beads in bulk or in smaller quantities. Jewelry makers, crafters, and designers can enjoy the convenience of shopping online for their bead needs.

Customers can easily access the Bead Store from the APlusBeads.com homepage. The Online Store is easy to access and is broken down for easy searching, depending on the type and style of bead the customer is searching for. Customers can shop by size of bead, shape of bead, or stone. Each product is shown with a detailed photo, making it even easier for customers to view what they are ordering.

The APlusBeads.com Online Store offers round beads, design beads, coral beads, cabochon beads, pearls, fiber optic beads, magnetic beads, Indian gemstones, Swarovski crystals, and ready-to-wear jewelry. In addition to the extensive product line available at the APlusBeads.com new online Beads Store, the company will also help any customer locate specialty beads they desire. Customer service is of great importance to the owners of APlusBeads.com, which is certainly why they take on special order tasks as well as regular Beads Store orders, and pride themselves to ship all orders promptly and accurately.

Valley Junction bead shop still growing

As owner of Artistic Bead, newly located in the former Donna's Collectibles shop, 234 Fifth St. in West Des Moines, Erickson has taken that interest to intricate and artistic levels crafting high-quality beads into artwork and jewelry.

But Erickson said she wants everyone to share that passion and by teaching classes and selling kits and tools in her shop, she insists anyone can create eye-catching pieces. The new location has done more than add space for her products and classes; it allowed her to pick up where the retired owner of Donna's Collectibles, Donna Martin, left off.

"What Women Want"… in iPod Accessories

In a January 2007 study conducted by ChicBlvd.com online magazine -- a girlfriend's guide to dating, marriage, baby and career -- it was determined that women ages 18-40, regardless of their life-stage, view iPods as a must-have item among electronic devices.

The survey announced that over 85% of these women own one or more iPod devices for reasons such as ease of use, convenient music storage and compact design… not to mention that it's quite trendy!

Nearly 90% of these iPod purchases were made within the last two years and an astounding 20% of total iPods owned were acquired during Christmas 2006. With no sign of slowing down, the poll revealed that women iPod owners will increase at least 13% in 2007.

Now more than ever, women are looking for accessories to jazz up their common-looking gadget--whether with crystals, appliqués, unique earphones or stylish protective covers.

And while many women continue to seek out the latest fashion trends for their iPod, another striking result of the study indicated that when purchasing their accessories, functionality is equally as important to them as finding a unique style.

An example of one such device that women commented on, was the newly released product called chicBuds Swarovski crystal earphones from www.chicbuds.com. While women adored the product's fancy embellishments, 50% of them commented on the versatility of this chic gear.

The number one versatile feature that grabbed the attention of the sample group surveyed, was the convenient built-in retractable device found on the cord of the earphone. Comments ranged from "My favorite feature on chicBuds is the retractable device--great idea, mine are always getting tangled!" and "the retractable cord! It makes working out with my iPod a lot easier!!"

Some 50% of iPod owners say that style is a must-have when finding the perfect accessory to customize their iPod as one women said it best, "I like to feel unique in the sea of iPod users walking around my college campus!!"

While some in the fashion industry may say that pink is on its way out, it was found that almost half of all iPod accessory purchasers prefer pink. Founders of www.chicBuds.com further reported that their earphones embellished with pink Swarovski crystals compile at least 80% of their continued growing sales.

While women often "think pink", it was discovered that there's a lot more to their purchasing decisions than just color. Women commented that their buying transactions are fueled by emotional responses to a product--which are often ignited by special editions that offer a percentage of proceeds to charities including those such as AIDS Awareness, Breast Cancer Awareness, Support the Troops and Music Appreciation.

In a consumer-driven market saturated with the latest over-the-top accessories for iPods, women demand more than just a pretty product to get them to dip into their pocket books.

Valentine Gifts with a Personal Touch

Here's an idea for a Valentine's Day gift: Buy a cookie and write something sweet to your valentine using a pen with edible ink!

"You can buy the cookie and you can take it home and write whatever you want, whatever message you like," said Tushard Dubey, owner of Hokulani Bake Shop.

You can get those creative cookies at Hokulani Bake Shop in Restaurant Row. Cookies and cakes, made from scratch, with any message you want.

"We've seen everything from 'Will you marry me?' to things I can't repeat on television tonight," said Dubey.

"What do you think you are going to say on your cookie?" KGMB9 asked one customer.

"Just 'I love you,' but these people can do anything honestly," said 15-year-old Brittney Schneider.

With 600 different cookie cutters, Hokulani can make anything a heart desires.

But if your sweetheart doesn't have a sweet tooth, you could make her a necklace by hand at the store "Bead It!"

"You just pick out all the beads she would love, the colors, the textures," a "Bead It!" employee explained.

"It gives people the opportunity to come in and create something beautiful for someone that they love," said Jill Barry, owner of "Bead It!".

According to the beading experts, men tend to like beads that are natural or ethnic looking, while women gravitate toward anything sparkly or pretty.

"Garnets, aquamarine, turquoise, tourmaline, things like that," said Barry.

Beads range from 15 cents to hundreds of dollars.

"Swarovski crystals or something like that. Hopefully they will be able to help me figure out what that is," said Ken Daubert, who is picking up something for his wife.

And for men, there's free help for those looking to make a masterpiece.

"I see something forming here," said a customer, proudly beading a necklace for his valentine.